Blue Moon

 The first full moon of May, known as the "Flower Moon", occurred on 01 May.  This year there was a second full moon in May.  It happened at 4:45 am on 31 May (today), and could be seen rising on the evening of 30 May (last night).  The second full moon of the month is known (by one definition) as a "Blue Moon".  The Moon reaches apogee (farthest from Earth) about 18 hours later, so this full moon is also called a "Micro Moon".

These images were obtained with a Sightron infini D50 refractor on 30 May.  Official moonrise was 8:20 pm MDT, but the low arc traced by the Moon means that it didn't begin to peek through the trees above Snowshoe Mountain until about 1 hour 50 minutes later.

anticipation....

  

almost...

Evening stars

 The Evening Star (Venus) and False Evening Star (Jupiter) shine brightly over Bristol Head during twilight:

Panasonic Leica 25mm + sparkle filter

 The ridgeline is lit up by the 11.9-day waxing moon:

Rokinon 135mm f/2

 The Moon:

Sightron infini D50 + 1.5x MDB

 

Twilight Moon and planets

 Last night the 9.0-day moon was just past first quarter and lighting up the landscape during twilight.  The Sightron infini D50 refractor (540 mm focal length) was used to capture this image:

 Jupiter and Venus are currently just under 16 deg apart as they sink behind Bristol Head in the west.  On June 8–9 they will be separated by less than 2 deg.

Jupiter (UL) and Venus (LR) over Bristol Head

 The lens used for this image and the next was a Vivitar Series 1 VMC 90mm f/2.5 macro.

Auriga setting over Bristol Head.  Vivitar 90mm + softon filter

 

The Moon and Venus

The 2.6-day crescent moon was 2-1/2 deg from Venus as they set over Bristol Head on Monday night. 

150 mm, ISO 400, 1-sec exposure.

 

Early-morning Milky Way

 I woke up at 4:30 am and saw that the sky was clear when I looked out the window.  The new 7Artisans 7.5mm f/2.8 fisheye lens was already mounted on the Olympus E-M1iii camera, so that got used to take a couple quick pictures.  I was still half asleep and didn't notice that the lens aperture was stopped down to f/4.  Also, astronomical twilight was already underway, so the sky was getting brighter and bluer.  Too bad I didn't wake up an hour earlier.

This is a preview of the Milky Way near midnight in late July or mid August, when the sky will be darker.

 In this version of the same file, some digital filters were applied to suppress the faint stars and increase contrast in the Milky Way:

 

 

Late-night aurora seen from Creede

 I was outside in the front yard at 11:30 pm on Friday night to do what I thought would be a few quick shots to test a new fisheye lens (7Artisans 7.5mm f/2.8 II).  The first exposure showed a red glow on the northern horizon, so I ended up doing many iterations and eventually moved out onto the road to get a better perspective.

The red auroral glow reached up to about 8° above the horizon.  That would put it overhead somewhere in Canada, over a 1000 mi to the north.  The sky brightness was measured as 21.65 mpsas, somewhat brighter than previous nights, but still very dark.  There seemed to be more green airglow this night, which contributed to the increased brightness.

Meteor and auroral glow

 

The curved horizon is caused by the distortion of the fisheye lens.  On the right, the northern Milky Way is rising over Snowshoe Mountain and gradually blending in to the pink auroral glow to the left side of the frame.  There were also clouds floating around, some silhouetted against the aurora and Milky Way, and some lighter ones overhead. 

A digital 3x3 median filter was also applied to these images to eliminate the distraction of the fainter stars:

 

Dark sky on Sunday: three focal lengths

 I was so excited by last-night's results that I posted them first.  However, the previous night (Sunday, 10 May) was almost as dark.  On Sunday I measured sqml=21.78 mpsas directly overhead.  The linear brightness ratio between 21.84 and 21.78 is 1.06.  Less than ten-percent differences are generally below the level of perception.

On Sunday I used three lenses:  Rokinon 7.5mm f/3.5 fisheye, Leica 25mm f/1.7, and the Olympus 75mm f/1.7.

 

Venus setting over Bristol Head.  Rokinon 7.5mm fisheye.

Jupiter setting over Bristol Head. Rokinon 7.5mm fisheye.

In the above image I applied a 3x3 Median filter to suppress the myriad of faint stars and emphasize the sky-brightness gradations caused by airglow and Zodiacal Light.  A faint arc of Zodiacal Light stretches up to the left from Jupiter in the lower middle of the frame.

Looking north.  Rokinon 7.5mm fisheye.

 In this image, the Big Dipper is in the middle of the frame.  An arc of Zodical Light curves up along the left edge.  In the bottom right corner the northern Milky Way is emerging above the NE horizon.  A median filter was also applied to this image.

Melotte 111. Leica 25mm f/1.7 + softon filter.

 The star cluster known as Melotte 111 (Mel 111) is the centerpiece of the constellation Coma Berenices.  The cluster was almost directly overhead.

Omega Centauri. Olympus 75mm.

 The giant globular cluster Omega Centauri clears the distant summit of Piedra Peak by only 1.8 deg.